Top Indian Court Rules Sex with Wife Younger Than 18 is Rape

India's top court has ruled that having sexual intercourse with a wife younger than 18 is rape |
Photo: WDIO-TV file

October 12, 2017 02:34 AM

NEW DELHI (AP) - India's top court has ruled that having sexual intercourse with a wife younger than 18 is rape, a decision that activists say is an important step toward ending child marriages.

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Indian law has set 18 as the age for women to marry and consent to sex, but there are exceptions and a man was permitted to have sex, even forcibly, with a girl as young as 15, as long as she was his wife.

The court ruled Wednesday that sexual intercourse with a girl younger than 18 is rape.

Lawyer Indira Jaisingh said the ruling would make child marriages illegal.

Child marriages are prevalent in India, especially among the rural poor.